Another Bitter Reunion
by JackandDannysGirl
Summary: The sequal to The Life of Diana Phantom. Vlad is back and invites Diana and her family over for Thanksgiving break. Diana thinks Vlad is up to something but Danny doesn't believe her. Now only Diana can stop Vlad before his evil plan is put into action.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

Three months had gone by since Diana Fenton had learned about her ghost powers. With the help of her father, Danny, she was becoming an expert at them. It was now November and Diana was happy because Monday would be the start of Thanksgiving break. She really didn't care for the holiday but anything to get her out of school she was for. Diana and her friends Alex Blade, Whittany Foley, Kelly and Michael Baxter were sitting around a picnic table in the school courtyard making plans for their Friday night.

"Ok so what's all playing at the movie theater?" Whittany asked her friends

"Well Zombie Slayer 3 came out last week. We could see that." Diana suggested.

Kelly shook her head. "No way! Zombies freak me out. Besides I haven't even seen Zombie Slayer 1 or 2."

"Well what should we do?" Michael asked. "How come it's gotten harder to think of something to do on Friday lately?"

Diana shrugged. "I don't know. I guess its because we've done everything." There was a short pause and then Diana thought of something. "Oh! I know! You guys could come over to my house and we could watch a movie there."

"That's a great idea!" Kelly agreed "We haven't done that in like forever." Everyone agreed on that then Whittany asked, "What should we watch?"

"I don't care." Diana said. "Any suggestions?"

"Anything's fine with me except for 'Phantom of the Opera'." Michael said.

Diana frowned. "What's wrong with 'Phantom of the Opera'?" Diana actually liked that movie.

"Nothing. I've just seen it so many times I could recite it right now." Michael said.

"Ok fine." Diana said. There was another short pause. Whittany broke the silence.

"Oh! We could watch 'Titanic'!" Whittany suggested.

"Yeah I love that movie!" Diana agreed

Kelly nodded. "Me too! And that Jack guy is so hot!"

"Oh my gosh I know." Diana said. That caught Alex's attention.

"Who's Jack?" He asked Diana. Whenever Diana thought a guy or something about a guy was hot and it wasn't him it bugged him. He didn't know why it bugged him so much and not knowing why it bugged him just bugged him even more.

"Jack is one of the main characters," Diana answered. "Played by hot Leonardo Dicaprio."

"Yeah but he's like old now." Kelly said to Diana.

"I know that. "Diana told Kelly.

"Well I don't want to see that movie anyway," Michael said. "I hate romantic movies."

"Have you even seen it?" Whittany asked him.

"No but I heard it had all these gushy love parts in it."

Kelly sighed. "I wish I was Rose then I'd get to make out with Jack."

Alex turned to Diana. "They make out in the movie?"

"Yeah. They make out at least four or five times," Diana answered. "Come to think of it 'Titanic' is a pretty extreme movie."

"Nah, it's not extreme. Its rated PG13 after all." Whittany said.

"Yeah but I would've thought that they would rate it R with that whole drawing thing."

Michael was confused. "Wait a minute, what drawing thing?"

"Oh, Jack draws a picture of Rose naked." Diana answered.

"Then maybe I will like this movie." Michael said.

Diana made a discussed look at Michael. "Michael you're so perverted." She would have gone on but at that moment Diana and Alex's ghost sense went off. A light blue mist came out of her mouth whenever a ghost was near. The same happened with Alex and Diana stood up and looked around to see where the ghost was. They both looked across the street and saw the ghost. It was a huge green snake and it was knocking down everything in site. Diana and her friends got up and ran behind the school building.

"Wow. That's the weirdest looking ghost I've ever seen." Kelly said once they got there.

"I've seen weirder," Diana said. She looked at Alex. "You ready?"

Alex smiled. "I'm always ready." Diana smiled back and transformed. Alex watched her for a second then transformed too. A beam of blue light formed around Diana's hips and then separated into two. The first ring went up over her head and the other went down her legs. The rings changed her normal clothes into a black jumpsuit that ended in a skirt with white gloves and black boots and turned her black hair white and her violet eyes a glowing green. The same thing happened with Alex but the beams of light around him were red. The beams turned his clothes into a black and red jumpsuit and turned his blonde hair black and his brown eyes turned red with cat pupils.

Once they had transformed Diana and Alex flew off toward the snake ghost. Alex shot a red ecto-beam from his hand at the ghost and got its attention. "Hey creep!" Alex yelled to it. The ghost darted toward them. Diana and Alex shot beams at it but they didn't seem to be doing any good.

"Hey, watch this! My dad taught me it!" Diana yelled at Alex. She shot a beam at the ghost but instead of blowing up in its face it covered the ghost in ice and froze it in its path. Alex looked at Diana impressed. "Nice!"

Diana smiled. "Yep! He won't be getting out of there anytime soon." But then the ice surrounding the snake ghost started to crake and the ghost was free once again.

Alex looked over at Diana and frowned. Diana gave him a guilty smile. "Yeah, I'm still working on it."

The ghost spun around and swung his tail at Alex and Diana. Diana flew out of the way but Alex wasn't quick enough. Alex crashed into the side of the school building. "Lets stop fooling around. Use the Fenton Thermos on him!" Alex yelled to Diana.

Diana nodded and reached for her back but was surprised when the thermos wasn't there. She usually carried it on a strap over her shoulder so that it lay on her back but it wasn't there. Alex flew over to Diana to see what the hold up was.

Diana smiled sheepishly at Alex. "Uh, I can't find it."

"You lost it?" Alex yelled at her.

"Relax. It's in my locker…I think."

The snake ghost charged at the two friends. Alex noticed and shot a beam at it. "Well go get it," Alex called to Diana. "I can hold off this thing."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Just go!" Diana obeyed and flew off.

She phased through the side of the school and flew down the empty hallways until she got to her locker. She phased her hand through her locker door and pulled out a book. "Nope." Diana said as she put the book back into her locker. This time she pulled out a notebook. "Nope." She put it back and pulled out another book. "Nope." She put it back. This time she pulled out a banana peel. Diana looked at it. "How did that get in there?" She threw it on the floor and phased her head through the locker door. She saw her books, her pictures stuck on the walls of the locker, and all of her other junk but the thermos wasn't there.

Diana pulled her head out of her locker. "Maybe it's in Alex's locker." She said to herself. She flew down the hallway then stopped once she had reached Alex's locker. Diana phased her hand through the door and undid the lock. She opened the door and sure enough there was the Fenton Thermos sitting on top of Alex's books. Diana picked it up. She was about to close the locker door but something shiny caught her eye.

Diana opened the locker again and looked around to see what it was that she saw. Then she saw it. There was a necklace with a golden heart on it lying at the bottom of the locker. "A necklace? What would Alex do with a necklace? He doesn't even wear necklaces." Diana asked out loud. Then it hit her. "Oh my gosh! Alex!" Diana closed Alex's locker and flew as fast as she could out of the school. What Diana didn't notice about the necklace was that it had _Alex and Diana_ engraved on it and a note attached to it that said: To Diana From Alex.

Meanwhile Alex was blasting at the snake ghost. The blasts didn't seem to be doing anything. Soon the ghost had Alex cornered. Alex kept firing at it but that only bad the ghost mad. The snake raised its head ready to strike at Alex.

"Down boy!" Alex said to the snake with a worried tone in his voice. The ghost wasn't listening. "Nice boy!" Alex didn't know what else to do. The snake stared angrily at Alex.

"Nice girl?" Alex said. The snake was ready to strike at him. Before Alex could scream Diana had sucked the ghost into the Fenton Thermos. Diana flew over to Alex and landed next to him.

"If you would've came here a few minutes earlier that would've been nice," Alex said to Diana. "What took you so long?"

"I had to look in my locker and then in yours." Diana answered

"Why mine?"

"The thermos was in there."

"I don't remember putting it in there," Then Alex thought of the necklace that he hid in his locker. "Uh, you didn't happen to see anything while you were getting the thermos did you?"

"Well sure I did."

Alex started to stutter nervously. "Uh, what, um, what exactly did you see?"

"Well I," Then Diana realized why Alex seemed so nervous. "Um, I saw that, uh, Biology test. Yeah! You failed again. Yeah." Diana lied.

Alex was relieved that Diana hadn't said anything about the necklace but he tried not to let that show. "Oh, yeah, that's what I meant. And I didn't fail! That was a solid D minus!" Diana giggled at his joke then noticed her three friends running toward them with Diana's dad following them.

"You two okay?" Danny asked once they had caught up to Diana and Alex. Diana nodded. "Yeah we're fine."

"What about the ghost?"

Diana gave her father the thermos. "Taken care of."

"But I did most of the work." Alex bragged.

"That's only because I had to get the thermos." Diana told him.

"Well you were supposed to have it with you."

"You know I'm bad at remembering things!"

Kelly smiled listening to Alex and Diana's little argument. "You two sound like married couple." She teased. Diana and Alex stopped and looked at Kelly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" They yelled at her with nervous tones.

"Oh nothing." Kelly smiled.

Diana let what Kelly said roll off her back. "Okay well let's get going. I know that Michael is just so eager to watch 'Titanic'." She joked. Diana and Alex both transformed back into their normal selves. The group started to walk toward the direction of the Fentons' house but Whittany stopped and grabbed Alex's arm. She waited until the others were far away so that they couldn't hear them.

"You like Diana don't you? No that's a stupid question of course you do."

Alex just stared at Whittany for a second. "Yeah…so?"

"So why haven't you asked her out yet?"

"Why do you want to know anyway?"

"Just because. Now why haven't you?"

Alex sighed. "I don't know. It would make things too complicated."

"What are you talking about?" Whittany asked.

"The whole ghost fighting thing," Alex answered. "It would make it more complicated than it already is."

"How would asking her out make that complicated?"

"You know what, it's none of your business anyway." Alex said to Whittany as he started walking to ketch up with the others. Whittany watched Alex run up to Diana and tapped her on her shoulder, which obviously surprised her. Diana yelled playfully at him and started chasing after him as he ran down the street. Whittany snapped out of her gaze and ran to ketch up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

At the Fentons' house Diana, Alex, Whittany, Michael, and Kelly were sitting on the couch in front of the TV munching on popcorn and chips. They were watching 'Titanic as planned. Alex was staring at the TV bored with the movie, Whittany was quietly watching, Diana and Kelly were silently reciting the lines the characters were saying because they had seen it so many times, and Michael kept bugging Diana about when the drawing scene was coming on. Diana had responded with "Later" and "Quit asking" but then she just stopped answering all together.

In the movie Rose was showing her heart shaped sapphire necklace to Jack. That reminded Diana of that heart shaped necklace in Alex's locker. Alex had thought of that too but they both forgot about that when Rose said to Jack: "Jack I want you to draw me wearing this…only this." Michael stared at the TV knowing what was coming next. In the next scene Rose walked into the room wearing a fancy robe, Jack looked up at her. Diana reached for the remote and paused it.

"Hey! What was that for?" Michael asked.

"That's as much as you are going to see." Diana answered smiling. Michael scowled at her but Diana ignored it. She pressed the skip scene button and then went on with the movie.

They watched the movie quietly until they came to the scene where Rose and Jack were in a car in the bottom of the ship. The window of the car was covered in steam and Rose's hand smeared the glass. Diana and her friends all knew what they were doing. Then Michael grabbed the remote and pressed the skip scene button. Kelly, Whittany, and Diana all looked at him angrily.

"Why did you do that?" Kelly asked. "You skipped the part where Jack was all shirtless and sweaty!"

"You won't let me see Rose so you don't get to see Jack." Michael said to his sister.

"But that was Diana that did it!" Kelly said. Diana shot her a cold glance and Kelly became quiet.

Before they knew it they were close to the end. Jack and Rose were floating on a piece of wood in the middle of the ocean and freezing to death. Rose was only asleep but Jack wasn't. All of them knew that, Kelly had told Alex since he didn't really care if she spoiled the movie for him.

Kelly made a fake sniffle. "Why did Jack have to die? He was so young! And so hot!"

"Oh get a hold of yourself!" Alex yelled at her. Kelly didn't say anything to him.

When the movie was over Kelly, Michael, and Whittany said their goodbyes and left for their own houses.

Since his parents abandoned Alex when he was little and he had no home so Danny and Sam let Alex stay with them and Diana so now the guest room was his bedroom.

Diana and Alex went upstairs to get ready for bed. Diana walked into her room and pulled on her light blue pajama pants and matching tank top. She walked down the hall to the bathroom to brush her teeth but the door was closed. Diana heard the sound of running water. It was probably her dad or mom taking a shower she thought. Diana knocked on the door. Nobody answered so Diana slowly opened the door hoping no one was in there. Unfortunately she was wrong.

Diana peered through the cracked door and saw Alex standing in front of the shower taking off his black long sleeve shirt with his back facing the door. At least that was the only thing he had taken off Diana thought or Alex would totally kill her.

Alex looked behind him and saw Diana standing by the door staring at him. "Can I help you?" he asked her not sure why she was in here.

"Oh, um, I was just gonna get my toothbrush and I didn't know you were in here so I'm just gonna go now." Diana grabbed her toothbrush from the shelf above the sink and headed for the door. Alex dropped his shirt on the floor as he watched her. Diana looked back at him before she closed the door. That's when she noticed a long scar on Alex's torso inches away from his bellybutton.

Diana hesitated. "Um, Alex, can I ask you something?"

Alex looked a little surprised. "Um sure."

Diana walked toward him then stopped when she was right in front of him. "How…how did you get that scar?" Diana pointed at Alex's stomach where the scar was. Alex looked down at it.

"Oh, this thing? It's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing. What happened?"

Alex paused for a moment. "It's not important."

"Yes it is! For all I know a cop gave it to you!"

Alex sighed. "My dad did it," He told her. "He…I don't really remember the details but he…he was cutting a carrot or something for dinner and I just came up behind him and I just started talking to him and I guess he thought I was being annoying and he just…lost it. He turned around and swung the knife at me. I don't think he intended on cutting me and I don't think he cared that he did. My mom wasn't home when that happened so I had to take care of it myself. Like I said it's nothing, it turned out not being a really deep cut anyway so, yeah, it's nothing."

Diana nodded in understanding. She moved her hand near his scar but Alex caught her wrist stopping her. "Don't touch me."

"Oh, does it hurt?"

"No. I just don't like to be touched."

Diana rolled her eyes. She turned around and headed for the door. "You could use some work on those abs of yours too." Diana said to Alex with a smile.

Alex smiled a little. "Shut up." Alex said as he picked up his rolled up shirt and threw it at her. It hit Diana then fell to the ground. Diana picked it up and threw it back. Alex dodged it and the shirt fell into the shower directly under the water.

Alex looked at Diana. "You're drying that."

"No I'm not."

Alex looked over at the sink and noticed a can of shaving cream. He picked it up and took the cap off. "Yeah you are."

Diana's eyes widened. "Alex what are you doing?" Alex shook the can pressed down on the nozzle with his finger spraying shaving cream all over Diana. Diana looked down at her cream covered pajamas then picked up a tube of toothpaste sitting on the shelf above the sink. She took off the cap and squirted toothpaste at Alex. Alex wiped some toothpaste from his eye and shot shaving cream at Diana again. Diana and Alex covered the other in toothpaste and shaving cream and started laughing their heads off at the site of each other.

Alex looked at the door and noticed Danny standing behind Diana. Diana noticed Alex staring and turned around to see what it was that was behind her. Diana smiled faded when she saw her dad. "Oh, hi dad. What's up?"

Danny opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He started again. "You know what? I'm not even gonna ask this time. I don't wanna know." Danny walked down the hall to his and Sam's bedroom. Diana watched her father leave and then turned to Alex.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go now." Diana walked out of the bathroom and closed the door. Alex smiled then looked in the mirror. He frowned as he pulled some toothpaste out of his golden blonde hair. "Eww. At least I was going to take a shower anyway." Alex undid the button on his jeans but stopped and looked at the door. Alex sighed then opened the door and, just as he thought, there was Diana kneeling on the floor who was looking through the crack in the door.

Alex looked down at her. "Hi Diana."

Diana smiled and waved at him from the floor. "Hi!"

"I hope you're happy. I smell like mint toothpaste now."

"Oh," Diana got up and ran down the hall. "Goodnight Alex!" Alex watched her a moment then shut the door.

As Diana was walking toward her room the phone rang. "I got it!" Danny yelled from his room. Diana peaked into her parents' room to see who it was that was calling. Danny pushed a button on the phone that was sitting on a table next to the bed. A small screen popped up. All of the phones were like that those days, even cell phones. The face on the screen Diana didn't recognize and neither did Danny for a moment.

"Hello?" Danny said to the person on the screen.

"Hello Daniel. It's been a while."

Danny recognized the voice and couldn't believe who he was talking to. "Vlad? Vlad Masters?"

The man on the screen nodded. "So you do remember me."

Danny was confused. "But how? I thought my dad left you in space!"

"He did but as you can see I found my way back."

"Well what do you want?"

Vlad grinned. "Oh I just wanted to invite you and the family over for Thanksgiving since we haven't seen each other in thirty years or so and I'd like to meet your children. You do have children right?"

"Only one. Sorry but I'm gonna have to pass. I'm not in much of a hurry to see you again."

Vlad's smile faded. "That's what I thought you'd say." Suddenly the window burst open and a vampire like ghost flew in. It was Vlad in ghost form but then Danny looked at the screen again and Vlad was still there. It must be a clone Danny thought. Then the Vlad clone pointed his hand at Danny. The clone's hand started to glow a bright pink. Danny just stared at it.

Diana was tempted to help her dad but she was too in shock to do anything. After a few seconds the Vlad clone lowered his hand and flew out of the window. Danny was still staring off into space.

"So did you change your mind?" Vlad asked over the phone.

Danny turned around and faced Vlad's image on the screen. "Yes Vlad. We'd love to come over." He said in a happy tone but still staring.

Vlad smiled. "Good. Stop by tomorrow before dinner. Goodnight Daniel." Vlad hung up and the screen disappeared. Diana couldn't believe what just happened. She pinched her arm. "Ouch!" So she wasn't dreaming after all. Diana ran to her room trying to forget the whole thing.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning Diana helped her parents pack up their stuff for their stay at Vlad Master's mansion. Her grandparents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, were going to come soon along with her aunt Jazz and her cousins Julia and Zachary and her aunt Danielle. Danny and Sam had told Diana that Danielle was actually Danny's ghost powered clone made by Vlad several years ago but Danielle got by saying that she was Danny's cousin.

Diana walked outside carrying a bag slung over her shoulder. Alex followed her carrying a suitcase, which apparently was heavy.

"Gees, how many bags do you guys need?" Alex asked Diana dropping the suitcase.

"Hey, I need my stuff!" Diana snapped.

"Well how much do you need?"

"Let's see. Hair care products, make up, clothes, accessories, and other stuff like my phone and music player."

"You don't need all of that stuff," Alex said. "And why do I have to carry it?"

Diana set her bag down by the other bags that had been taken outside. "Because Mom and Dad are busy and I can't do it alone."

Alex set the suitcase down. "You didn't even carry anything!"

"Yes I did! I carried my bag!"

"Yeah but it barely weighs anything."

Diana picked up the bag. "Yes it does! Here." Diana gave Alex the bag. Alex took it then tripped because of the weight of it.

Alex stood up. "What's in there?"

"My stuff plus ghost equipment." Diana answered.

"Ghost equipment?"

Diana nodded. "Yeah my mom is suspicious of Vlad cause he used to be my dad's enemy and all."

"She's suspicious and you and your dad aren't?"

"Well I am but Dad…he's been acting really weird ever since last night. When he was talking to Vlad on the phone this ghost came in through the window and did something to him. I don't know what happened but Vlad must have something to do with it."

"Well then don't go." Alex said.

"I have to, Dad's making me," Diana answered. "Which means that you still have to stay at Michael and Kelly's place."

Alex moaned. "Why their place? Anything would be better than their place! Even Whittany's house would be better!"

"It's already set up and my dad's not changing it. Besides, you need to spend more time with Michael anyway. You guys could be best friends if you gave him a chance."

"I gave Kelly a chance and that didn't really turn out so well."

Diana sighed.

"Hey Diana, are you ready?" Danny yelled to Diana. "They'll be here any minute."

"Yeah I'm ready." Diana called to him. Diana looked at Alex. "Well I guess you should head on over to Kelly and Mike's now."

"Yeah I guess." Alex paused. "Um, Diana I, uh, I kinda wanted to…" Alex ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "…Give you something."

Diana looked at him. "Um okay."

Alex slowly reached into his pocket and took something out of it. He held it up to Diana. Diana couldn't believe it. It was the necklace she had seen in his locker the other day. Diana just stared at it. She looked at Alex.

"What's this for?"

"Um, I was getting to that," Alex took a deep breath. "I know this sounds so retarded but I was going to, um, ask you…ask you out cause you're pretty and awesome…and stuff…and if you said yes I was going to uh, give this to you so…here," Alex held it out to her. "Take it…now."

Diana stared at it in awe. "Oh my gosh! I love it! It's so pretty!" Diana took it from his hand and looked at it closer. Then she noticed the engraving.

"Alex and Diana?" She read the engraving out loud.

Alex blushed. "Yeah, I know, it's really lame and I honestly have no idea what I was thinking at the time so…"

Diana interrupted. "It's not lame, it's sweet. I like it, no, I love it!" Diana hugged him.

When she let go Alex smiled. "Really? You like it?"

"Did I stutter?" Diana asked. "But how did you get this? Is this real?"

"As real as I could afford it to be, which isn't much."

"Oh. Well I still like it. Thanks."

Alex ran his fingers through his hair again. "Oh, no problem."

"Hey, you just did that hair thing!"

Alex stopped moving for a moment. "What hair thing?"

"That hair thing that you just did! You know you do it all the time when you're nervous. Wait, are you nervous?"

"No." Alex said quickly.

"Yes you are," Diana said. "Admit it!"

"You know what? You're lying so I guess that means…" Alex grabbed he necklace from Diana's hand. "…You don't get this."

Diana reached for the necklace. "That's mine! Give it!"

Alex raised his hand over his head making Diana reach higher for the necklace. "Well I gave it to you so I can just as easily take it back."

Diana jumped to grab it but Alex moved his hand away. "But I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah you did. You were being mean. So looks like you don't get a 'Good-bye see you in a week by the way will you do out with me?' gift. No necklace for you!" Alex raised his hand again. Diana reached for it and grabbed it out of Alex's hand. Then the next thing she knew she was standing right in front of Alex face to face with him. They each stared at each other for a moment then it seemed that Alex's face was getting closer. Diana leaned closer then puckered her lips. Alex hesitated but then did the same. Diana could hear the 'Titanic' theme song in her head probably because she had seen it so many times but she didn't care. To her it was the perfect background music.

Their lips were so close to touching. Then they heard a voice from behind Diana and immediately the music in Diana's head stopped and Diana turned to see who it was. It was her cousin Zachary. "Diana? Why were you guys kissing? Do you want to get pregnant or something?"

Alex walked up to him. "Dude, that's not how it works. Did your mom tell you that?"

"Maybe." Zachary answered.

"Oh, what other lies has she been telling you? Did she tell you its Santa Claus who puts stuff in your stockings and not her?"

"Put Santa does do that!" Zachary looked up at Diana. "Right Diana?"

"What? Oh, yeah! Of course!" Diana leaned over to Alex. "He still believes that stuff. Don't say stuff like that around him." She whispered to Alex.

"Why shouldn't I?" Alex whispered back. "The kid's practically living a lie every Christmas."

"Hey Zach, Mom says to get your butt in the car." Julia said as she walked up to them.

Zachary groaned. "Fine." He stared at Alex as he walked away. "I'm watching you."

"Oh! I'm so scared! A little ten year old is gonna get me!" Alex said sarcastically. Julia looked at Alex.

"Who are you supposed to be?" she asked.

"Julia, this is Alex. Remember I told you about him?" Diana explained.

"Oh right," Julia said. She took a look at Alex. "Diana made you sound hotter when she described you."

Alex's expression turned blank. "So thought I'd be hot or something?"

"Just as I thought, clueless. He fits you perfectly Diana."

Diana was going to make a comeback but Sam yelled to them. "Guys let's go!"

"Coming Mom!" Diana yelled to her. Diana picked up her bag from the ground. "Don't forget to call me." She said to Alex.

"With what?" Alex asked. Diana remembered that Alex didn't have a cell phone and Kelly would never let him use hers and Michael broke his weeks ago. Diana opened her bag and digged through it. She pulled out her cell phone and dropped it in Alex's hand.

"With this. I'll just use my dad's."

"Okay." Alex put the phone in his pocket. "So, um, bye."

"Bye." Diana ran up to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She waved to him as she ran to the car with Julia.

The car they were taking was Jack and Maddie's RV full of all kinds of ghost weapons. Sam had told them to bring it just in case. Jack and Maddie were in the front seat and Zachary, Danny, and Sam were climbing in. Julia climbed in after them.

"Did you get everything Diana?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Diana stopped. "Oh wait, my suitcase." Diana turned around to go get it but Alex was running to give it to her. Once he had gotten there he stopped and handed it to her.

"You kinda forgot this."

"Yeah. Thanks." Diana grabbed it from him and put it in the RV. "Remember, call me. I mean we are going out now so we have to call each other."

"Yeah, I know." Alex smiled at her.

Diana smiled back and got in the RV. "Be good for Kelly!" She yelled to him as she closed the door.

Jack started up the vehicle and drove off. Alex watched the RV drive away until it was out of site.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

All that day Diana was texting none stop on Danny's cell phone to Kelly, Whittany, and Alex, but mostly Alex. There was nothing to do anyway and bonding with the family in the Fenton RV was the last thing Diana wanted to do.

Danny turned and looked at Diana from the drivers seat. "Diana, put the phone down. You're wasting all my minutes."

Diana sighed. She pressed send on her test message to Kelly and set the phone down next to her.

Diana looked over at her cousins sitting next to her. Julia was listening to music and staring out the window while Zachary played his PSP3 and occasionally asked 'Are we there yet?' which was starting to get on her nerves.

Diana turned around to see what her grandparents and two aunts were doing. Jack had fallen asleep, Maddie and Jazz were talking about what was going on in their lives and what not, and Danielle was reading some sort of fantasy ninja book.

Diana looked out the window and watched the buildings and people zoom by. My family is so boring, she thought. She'd give anything just to fly out of this car and go back home. Then she got an idea.

"Hey Dad."

"Diana I'm driving," Danny said without even turning around to look at her. "Ask your mother."

"Fine. Hey Mom, can I go flying for a littler bit?"

Sam turned around and looked at her daughter. "What?"

"Can I go flying?" Diana asked again.

"Diana, we're on our way to Wisconsin and if you lose site of the RV for one second you'll get lost and we're not coming back for you."

"Please Mommy?" Diana begged.

Sam turned at Danny. "What do you think Honey?"

"Trying to keep my eyes on the road here!" Danny snapped.

Sam frowned. "Do you even realize what our daughter is asking permission to do?"

Danny groaned. "What do you want Diana?"

"Can I go our flying please?" Diana repeated for the third time. "I need to get out of this car before I die of boredom."

"Fine, whatever." Danny answered quickly.

Diana smiled. "Thank you Daddy."

"But like your mom said, keep up with us or you'll be stuck here." Danny added.

"Okay." Diana unbuckled her seatbelt, "Goin' Ghost!" She said as she transformed from Diana Fenton to Diana Phantom. Diana slowly floated above her seat.

"You stole my line?" Danny asked looking back at her.

"I didn't steal it, I borrowed it." Diana said as she fazed through the car door.

"'I borrowed it'. Yeah right." Danny said to himself.

Diana soared through the air above the RV feeling the wind blow through her hair. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift away. Flying was the part she loved best about having ghost powers.

Just then Diana collided with something hard and scaly. She opened her eyes and rubbed her bruised nose. Diana looked around to see what it was that she had hit. Right in front of her was Hadon, the young dragon/genie ghost. Hadon was in his dragon form. Diana remembered Hadon all too well.

The first time they had met was when Diana had taken her first trip into the ghost zone. She had run into Hadon and his friends Cat and Boxlunch and they weren't too happy to see her on their turf. Their second meeting, however, has different. Hadon and Cat had helped Diana defeat Dark Dan Phantom and since then Diana had thought of them as allies. Now she was worried that she had been wrong to think that.

Hadon stared at her for a moment. "Oh, hi Diana."

Diana was surprised. She would have thought that he would have attacked her by now. "Um, Hi. It's Hadon right?"

"Yes."

"Oh. What are you doing here?"

"Getting away from it all," Hadon answered. "Dad's trying to teach me prince etiquette."

"You mean like fancy royalty stuff?"

Hadon nodded. "And I hate it!"

"Ouch." Diana said. "Does he do that often?"

"Yeah but it's really weird, this is the first time he's really even talked to me in weeks. Even my mom hasn't been around. They keep saying they're going out somewhere all the time and that I can't come with them."

"Maybe they're just going out on a parents date like my parents do." Diana suggested.

"That's what I thought at first but then I got curious and I followed them one night. They weren't going to any restaurant or the movies."

"They have movie theaters in the ghost zone?" Diana asked. She didn't think that movies were the sort of thing that ghosts looked for to intertain themselves.

"Oh course we do!" Hadon went on. "Anyway, I followed them to where they were going and they went through this portal and ended up in this old castle place."

"Maybe it's some sort of parenting class," Diana guessed. "Look, I really don't see any problem here and I've totally lost the RV so if you could get to some sort of point that would be nice."

"There is a point, when I snuck inside the castle I saw Cat's parents there too."

"I'm starting to think it is some sort of parenting class." Diana butted in.

"That's not it," Hadon said raising his voice. "Every adult I know was there and even more that I didn't know."

"Could be some sort of secret cult or something."

"I don't think so. I overheard my parents talking about it and they said something about how someone named Plasmius needs to get better soliders for his army and my dad said that he was one of the best there."

Diana gave Hadon a confussed look. "Plasmius? How's that?"

"I don't know. But when I heard the word 'army' I thought I should find you. The last time there was a battle in the ghost zone it was with Danny Phantom's evil self and nobody wants that again including me."

"Huh, I don't know who this Plasmius guy is but for some reason the name sounds familiar. I'd like to help Hadon but I'm kinda going out of town and I really need to ketch up with my folks. But don't worry, I'll ask my dad if he knows who Plasmius is or what he's planning. Dad knows way more about the ghost world than I do."

"Okay. Well, thanks." Hadon flew off, the sun shining on his green and blue scales.

Diana watched him for a moment then looked around to see where the RV had gone. There was no sign of it anywhere and all Diana knew about where they were going was that it was somewhere in Wisconsin. Diana groaned. This was exactly what her parents had told her not to do.

Diana landed on the sidewalk next to a little café. "Maybe someone can give me some directions." Diana thought out loud. She looked around and saw a brown haired boy; he looked to be in his twenties, and walked over to him. Diana tapped him on the shoulder and he looked over at her.

"Hi hottie, um, I was wondering if you would be so kid as to…" Diana was interrupted by a tall blonde girl. She didn't seem very happy.

"Get away from my boyfriend you albino freak!"

Diana stared at her unable to figure out what was going on. "What? But I wasn't…" The blonde girl pushed her and Diana fell. Diana got up. Her eyes and hands glowed green with rage.

"Oh, it's on!" Diana was just about to blast this girl to kingdom come but stopped when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Diana, come on! You're dad wants you back in the RV."

Diana turned around and saw Danielle, in ghost form, levitating off the ground.

"Aunt Danielle! Where's everyone else?"

"On the highway. Now let's go."

Diana nodded and the two half-ghosts flew off to try and fine the family RV.

It had taken a few hours but the Fenton's had arrived at Vlad Master's mansion. Danny parked the RV and got out.

"Diana, open up the trunk and get your bags." He ordered.

Diana obeyed and got her things. Julia and Zachary followed her and did the same.

Danny and Sam walked up to the huge door of the mansion and knocked on the golden doorknocker. Immediately Vlad opened the door and smiled at Danny.

"Daniel and Samantha. How nice to see you two. And where's the rest of the family?"

Vlad looked behind Danny and Sam and saw Diana walk up the front steps carrying her bags. Vlad smiled as she walked up to him.

"So this must be Miss…"

"Diana. It's Diana."

"Right."

Vlad eyed Danielle as she walked up the front steps. "Hello Danielle, it's been too long since I've seen you."

Danielle stared at Vlad with hatred. "I think it hasn't been long enough."

Vlad turned to Danny and Sam. "What are you doing still standing at the door? Please come in." They did so, Sam being hesitant, with Vlad following.

Danielle walked in with a frown on her face. Diana couldn't help but notice it.

"Aunt Danielle, why do you and mom hate Mr. Masters so much?"

"I thought I told you this before Diana. He created me in his lab and tried to destroy me because he thought I wasn't the perfect half-ghost child. Plus he's your dad's, and my, arch enemy. He's done so many things to us that there's no way we can trust him ever again which means Danny trusting him is so weird it's suspicious. I can guarantee you Diana, that you're going to make an enemy of Vlad Plasmius on this little trip."

Diana stopped dead in her tracks. Plasmius. That name. That's why it was so familiar, her parents had told her the stories of how they had almost been killed by him. Maybe, Diana thought, that her promise to Hadon wouldn't be that hard to fulfill after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

That night at dinner everyone sat around Vlad's huge dinning room table surrounded by plates staked high with food from chicken to salad to fruit to spaghetti. All of the adults, excluding Danny, glared at Vlad as he walked into the room and sat down. Julia, Zachary, and Diana sat at the very end of the table. Julia sat there texting on her phone deep in her own conversation. Zachary stared at the plate of turkey longing to reach out and take a bite out of a piece. Diana looked over at her parents and Vlad.

She hadn't quite decided whether or not to fear, hate, or just to ignore Vlad. After all even if he had been her family's enemy in the past he hadn't done anything to her really. Her mom and Danielle had told her not to get to close to him and Diana had figured that Danny would have told her the same thing but he hadn't. Out of all the times he had told her what an evil man Vlad was this, surprisingly, was not one of those times. Danny couldn't have looked more relaxed sitting in his chair waiting for dinner to begin.

That worried Diana the most.

The ghost that had flown into her parents' bedroom had to have had something to do with it. Was Vlad behind it? Diana wasn't sure but she had promised Hadon, and herself, that she would figure this out and, hopefully, save the day if needed be.

"All right everyone," Vlad began. "Let's dig in!" Vlad grabbed a carving knife off of the table to cut the turkey.

Sam for the bowl of salad sitting right in front of her but then stopped. "None of this is poisoned is it?"

Vlad just looked at her. "Oh Samantha why would you think that?"

"Oh I don't know. You just never know with old enemies do you? And I told you before, my name is Sam."

"I know you name Samantha, don't be silly. And you all know I'd never do anything to harm any of you."

"Right." Sam said under her breath.

Vlad gave Sam a cold look as she turned away. "You'll be the first to die," Vlad said quietly to himself. "You can bet on it."

Vlad cut off a piece of turkey and began talking again in a much more brighter tone. "Now enough of all that talk. Who wants a leg?"

"Me, me, me!" Zachary raised his hand almost jumping out of his chair.

Julia turned away from her brother in annoyance and started pressing buttons on her phone again.

Diana looked over at Sam with worry in her eyes. She had heard Vlad's threat even though she was all the way across the room. Diana tended to hear more than anyone else could. Diana had a strong feeling that Vlad wasn't the type to go back on his word. She would talk to her mom about it later. Not now.

After dinner Diana walked up Sam. "Mom, I need to tell you something about Mr. Masters."

Just then Diana saw a dark shadow hover over her. She turned around to find Vlad standing in front of her smiling.

"Diana, dear, could I have a word with you?"

Diana looked over at Sam hesitantly.

"Go ahead Diana. You can tell me later." Sam said as she turned to walk away. Sam looked back for a moment, "Be careful." She whispered to Diana.

Once Sam was out of site Vlad grabbed Diana's arm.

Diana jumped.

Vlad chuckled. "Oh Diana, there's no need for you to be scared of me. I know what your parents tell you but that was all in the past. You have to understand that."

Diana just stood there, unsure what to say. Then she finally spoke. "Well I don't know. My parents don't really trust you."

"I know," Vlad said. "But this isn't about your parents."

"Then what is it about?"

"Listen, I know that you know that I know about your powers."

"I do?"

Vlad sighed. "Yes, you do. Now your powers are just like your father's, right?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Oh, does he train you?"

"Um, yeah."

"Does he train you well? Are you happy with what he teaches you?"

"Why are you asking me so many questions Mr. Masters?"

"Diana I know your father's powers. They are powerful, I admit. But mine are better, more powerful. I can do so much more than your father can. And I think you're the type of girl who wants to learn more and use your ghost powers to their full potential. Am I right?"

Diana didn't answer.

"Oh Diana," Vlad said. "There's no need to be scared of me."

Diana looked up at him. "With all due respect, Mr. Masters, I really don't think I can trust you."

"That's just because of your parents dear. They keep jamming all these stories into your head. Yes, I understand. You don't know whom to believe. But believe me Miss Diana, I can help you with your powers."

Diana looked surprised. "You can?"

Vlad smiled. "Oh course. I've had my ghost powers longer than your father and I know so much more then he does. If you trust me I could train you."

"Well, I don't know. What would my parents…."

Vlad interrupted her. "Don't worry about them. This is just about what you want. Now what do you say?"

Diana stood there silent. What could she say that wouldn't get her into trouble? If she said yes to Vlad she might get herself into something she might not be able to get herself out of. And if she said no something worse might happen.

"Well I…"

A loud beeping noise came from Diana's pant pocket. Diana reached into her pocket and grabbed the cell phone. She looked at it and smiled. This just might be her rescuer from this nightmare.

"Sorry," Diana said to Vlad. "Got a text message. I should probably get it, you know, don't wanna be rude or anything."

Diana looked down at her wrist examining her imaginary watch. "Oh and look at the time. I really should get going. I don't want my parents to get worried and I still have some unpacking to do."

"Of course dear," Vlad said as Diana started to walk down the hall. "But do take my little offer into consideration."

"Oh, sure thing Mr. Masters."

Diana ran down the hall and turned a corner. She stopped and looked at the text message she had received. It was from Alex. It read:

'Help me! I'm dying here!! Bet u r 2 w/ that ghost thing.'

"Oh Alex," Diana said to herself. "You don't know how close to the truth you are."

Meanwhile in the Baxter home Alex Blade was lying on the basement floor out of breath and sweating and pressing buttons on Diana's cell phone she had loaned him. Michael walked over to him wearing a t-shirt and baggy shorts.

"Put the phone away already Alex. We still have a lot of training to do." Michael said helping Alex to his feet.

"Yeah maybe you do but I don't. We've jogging and doing pushups for two hours. Isn't that enough?"

"No way! That was just the warm up. If you're already tired you'll never make it through jump rope mania." Michael picked up a jump rope off the floor.

"I think I'll pass." Alex said flatly.

"Hey boys," Dash Baxter called from a small boxing ring in the corner of the basement. "How about some punching practice?"

"Awesome!" Michael ran over to his father and jumped into the ring.

"Yeah I'm just gonna go now." Alex backed up slowly to the steps. Once he had reached them he ran up quickly and quietly.

Kelly and her mom, Paulina, were in the kitchen painting each other's nails. Kelly noticed Alex walk upstairs and waved to him.

"Hi Alex! Can you help me? I can't figure out which shade of pink to use on my left foot."

"As much fun as that sounds Kelly I think I'll have to pass." Alex ran over to the living room and landed on the couch. He pulled out the cell phone and typed in the number to Diana's phone. The phone rang a few times then Diana's face popped up onto the screen.

"Alex! I'm so glad you called!" Diana said over the phone.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"Not now but I have a bad feeling it will be. Vlad is up to something, I'm sure of it."

"What's he up to?" Alex asked.

"I don't know for sure but I do know that he is building up an army for something. And that can't be good."

"Well what do you want me to do?"

"Well if Vlad is making an army then we just might have to make one of our own."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Deep in the ghost zone Cat stood in front of a mirror in her father's bedroom. She wasn't supposed to be in there but her parents were nowhere to be found and her curiosity just couldn't be controlled.

Cat walked over to her father's desk chair. A cloak and top hat were draped over the antique chair. She picked them up and walked over to the mirror again. She wrapped the silk black cloak around her and set the top hat on her head right beside the single black ponytail that hung off the side of her head.

Her red eyes examined herself in the mirror. She smiled, pleased with her appearance. She spun around swinging the cape with her.

Cat had wanted to be in charge of her parent's freak circus ever since she had first starred in a trapeze act years ago. Ever since then Cat had been looking forward to the circus that she would inherit.

"What are you doing Catherine?" Came a voice from behind.

Cat quickly turned around to see her father Freakshow standing at the doorway. He didn't look angry at all. In fact he was smiling at her. Cat just stood there unable to think of anything to say.

"Well look at you," Freakshow said as he walked toward Cat. "I always thought you were the splitting image of your mother but it looks like I have underestimated that. You reminded me of myself just now. A little ringmaster."

Cat looked up at him surprised. "You aren't mad at me?"

Freakshow looked confused. "Should I be?"

"Well you told me not to come in here." She explained.

"Oh Cat, that was long ago. I expect you to break rules at your age. I'd be concerned if you didn't."

Cat brightened a little. She was lucky it was her father that had found her and not her mother, Lydia. Lydia was not as forgiving as Freakshow.

"Well, I do have to get going." Freakshow said taking the cloak from Cat and rapping it around his shoulders.

"Are you going to that conference again?" Cat asked.

"Yes."

"Why? You and Mother are always going to some meeting nowadays," Cat complained. Cat paused for a moment. "Speaking of which, where is Mother?"

"Lydia already left. I better catch up with her before she decides to do God knows what to me." Freakshow said making for the door. "Take care of yourself now." He said not even looking back at Cat.

Cat sighed and turned back to the mirror. She adjusted the hat and smiled at her reflection.

A loud tapping at the window broke Cat's train of thought. She looked over at the window to see Hadon beckoning her to let him in. Cat took off the top hat and set it back on chair in its proper place.

Cat lifted the latch on the window and it swung open.

"What are you doing here Hadon?" Cat asked him.

"Do you remember Diana Phantom at all?" He asked as he brushed a piece of his shaggy black hair away from his eyes.

"How could I forget?"

"Well, she sent me. She needs your help."

This surprised Cat more than the sudden kindness from Freakshow had.

"What does she need me for?"

Hadon grabbed her wrist. "I'll explain everything once we get there."

"And where would that be exactly?"

Hadon sighed. "Just come on."

The two ghost children flew through the ghost zone until they came to a swirling green portal.

Hadon looked over at Cat. "Like Dad always says, ladies first." He motioned for Cat to walk through before him. Cat smiled a little smile at him and stepped through the glowing green spirals.

On the other side of the portal was Diana Phantom waiting for them. Sitting on some boxes beside her was Boxlunch, Julia, Zachary and three other ghosts that Diana hadn't met before.

One of the ghosts was Terra McLain. She had introduced herself earlier as the 16 year old daughter of Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, and Ember McLain. Diana had heard of Ember. She occasionally listened to some of her old albums that her parents had stored in the basement. Like Ember, Terra was the rocker type. Her clothing, makeup, and multiple ear piercings proved it. Terra was now messing with the pegs on her guitar and quietly strumming it trying to get it in tune. Her green hair danced like flames behind her.

The other two new faces were Anthony and Spencer Spectra. They claimed to be the two sons of Bertrand and Penelope Spectra. With the exception of their glowing green eyes, pointed ears, and somewhat pale skin they looked like any other person you'd see walking around the local mall.

Anthony's spiky red hair fell over his dark sunglasses that barely revealed his eyes. A small silver piercing hung from his bottom lip. Anthony never told Diana his age but he looked to be about the same age as Terra. His wardrobe was a simple white shirt and black tie with a chain attached to the belt loops of a pair of kaki pants. Anthony just sat there with a blank expression on his face.

Spencer sat next to his older brother, bored and impatient. His greasy black hair was combed over on one side to show a piercing on the cartilage of his ear. He wore a white shirt that had once been long sleeved but the sleeves had been torn off with a blue sweater vest and red tie over it. His navy blue knee length pants matched his brown boots that looked almost too big for his small legs to carry.

Diana noticed Cat and Hadon arrive. She waved to them.

"There you are! I think everyone's here now." She looked around the room and counted on her fingers. "Ok," She muttered. "Boxlunch, Julia, Terra, Anthony, Cat, Hadon." She looked around again. "Where did Spencer and Zach get to?"

"They're over there being dorks." Julia pointed to a corner where the two boys were picking up and squishing spiders. Zachary heard what Julia had said and walked over.

"I'm not a dork!" Zachary looked down at the arachnid in his hand. He offered it to Julia. "Spider?"

Julia let out a high-pitched scream and jumped back and landed in Anthony's arms. Terra and Boxlunch started laughing.

Diana looked at all of them with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Ok, enough fooling around you guys. We have important things to discuss."

"What are we discussing anyway?" Cat asked. "Hadon failed to tell me on the way here."

"Well who knows who Vlad Plasmius is?" Diana asked the group.

Terra and Anthony slowly raised their hands.

"Ok, who knows who Vlad Masters is?"

Julia and Zachary raised their hands this time.

"Well they're the same guy. Anyway, thanks to Hadon I've found out that Vlad is planning on making an army out of the adults of the Ghost Zone. But we don't know the reason why. That's what we're trying to find out. Once we do we are going to put a stop to his evil plan once and for all." Diana explained to them.

"What's his plan again?" Terra asked with little interest in her voice.

"I just told you, I don't know. That's what I called all of you here for. We are going to team up and stop Vlad before he can do anything."

"What makes you think that we're going to help you?" Spencer asked with a snotty tone.

"Because for all we know both of our worlds could be at risk of falling apart!" Diana answered.

Zachary put the spider he was holding back on the ground and stepped on it. Julia made a high-pitched noise as it crunched under Zachary's foot.

"But why us?" Zachary asked. "Why aren't your parents helping us?"

"If they found out that we're going to fight Vlad they'd just hold us back. You know how parents are. They always treat us like children." Diana looked at what time it was on her cell phone. "Where is Alex? He should be here by now."

And as if on cue the cell phone began to beep. Diana opened the phone and answered the text message from Alex.

It read: I'm lost. Help.

Diana sighed. She looked at the bunch of adolescences that stood in front of her.

"Well one of our members is running late so we'll start our planning tomorrow. Alright?"

"Sounds fine to me." Anthony said standing up. "Come on Spence."

Anthony and Terra walked through the portal with Spencer running to catch up with them. Cat and Hadon flew through the portal after them without saying a word.

Diana transformed back into her human self and followed her cousins up the stairs to get ready for bed.

As Diana pulled on her PJs she thought about what Vlad's plan could be and what she would have to do to stop it. Then the thought of failure crossed her mind. What if she found out what Vlad was planning and then Vlad found out that she knew? She might get herself and everyone else killed if that happened. She didn't want to think about it.

Diana grabbed her bag and searched for her toothbrush. To her dismay she couldn't find it. She ended up dumping the whole bag on her bed and searched through the contents.

Then she felt a tap on her shoulder. Diana jumped. She would of screamed if a hand hadn't been covering her mouth. Diana was relieved when she saw that it was Alex. And he was holding her toothbrush.

"Looking for this?" He asked chuckling.

"Alex! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She yelled as she took the toothbrush out of his hand. But no matter how angry she was Diana couldn't stop smiling. She was just so happy to see him.

"I told you I'd make it." He said still smiling.

Diana picked up a tube of toothpaste that was sitting in the pile on her bed. "Yeah but you could've gotten here earlier."

"Like I said, I got lost." Alex said following Diana to the bathroom sink. "But aren't you happy to see me?"

Diana smiled. "Yes." She couldn't deny that. Diana took the cap off of the toothpaste tube and squirted some on her toothbrush. "So are you going back to Kelly and Michael's house?"

"Well it's kinda late and I was hoping I'd be able to crash here."

"I don't know. No one was expecting you to come here including me. And I don't think there's any beds left." Diana stuck the toothbrush in her mouth.

Alex walked out of the bathroom and noticed a small couch in the corner of the bedroom. "This'll work fine." He said as he sat on it.

Diana looked at him. "You sure?"

Alex nodded. "It's better than a cardboard box."

Diana spit in the sink and walked over to the bed. She grabbed a pillow and threw it at Alex. Alex caught it and set it down on the couch as he stood up.

Diana walked over to the closet and grabbed a blanket. Alex walked over and took it from her.

"Thank you." Alex whispered to her as he kissed her cheek. Diana's cheeks turned a bright red. Alex walked back over to the couch trying hard not to laugh.

"You still have my necklace?" Alex asked as he got comfortable on his substitute bed.

Diana walked over to the couch and sat next to Alex showing him the gold heart that had been hanging from her neck. "Haven't taken it off. And I don't plan to."

"How sweet." Alex said grinning.

"Where did you get it?"

"The necklace? That one dollar store down the street."

"Are you serious?"

Alex sighed. "Yes. I know. I'm stupid. You deserve so much more than that cheap little dress up jewelry."

"No, it's okay. It's the thought that counts after all." Diana said trying to make her smile as convincing as possible.

"I guess. But you're so much better than that." Alex said lying down on the couch. "You're the first real friend I've ever had and you don't know how much that means to me. You deserve so much more than I could ever give you."

Diana lied down next to him. "Well I don't care what I do or don't deserve. I'm happy right where I am."

Alex smiled and put his arm around Diana. "Me too."

The two teenagers stared into each other's eyes until they both eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Here are some pictures of Hadon, Cat, Terra, Anthony, and Spencer that I drew to give you some visuals. Remove the spaces and put a dot where it says dot.

Hadon: http:// jackanddannysgirl (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/OC-Hadon-56648499

Cat: http:// jackanddannysgirl (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Cat-OC-56511690

Terra: http:// jackanddannysgirl (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Terra-McLain-74408685

Anthony and Spencer: http:// jackanddannysgirl (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Anthony-and-Spencer-Spectra-74556534


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The sun shone through the window that next morning. The warm rays of light touched Alex's face and woke him. He looked over at Diana still fast asleep in his arms. He smiled at her. Alex gently shook her and whispered in her ear.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty. It's time to get up now."

Diana moaned. "Five more minutes Mom." She muttered.

Alex smiled as she rubbed her eyes.

"I fell asleep?"

"Yeah. We both did."

"Oh. What time is it?" Diana asked him.

Alex looked over at the clock that sat on the dresser.

Alex read the clock. "It's 9:30."

Diana sat up. "9:30? Already?"

"Yup."

Diana got up from the couch but then sat back down again. Her legs were too stiff to move.

"You need to go," She told him. "Mom and Dad will-"

There was a knock at the bedroom door.

"Diana," Sam's voice called to her. "Are you up?" Without waiting for a reply Sam opened the door.

Diana ran to the door and tried to close it but Sam had already walked in with Danny following behind her. They looked over at Alex sitting on the couch. They met his gaze with a cold glare. Alex just sat there smiling, unsure of what to say.

"Diana, what are you two doing in here?" Danny asked Diana now glaring at her.

"Well I can tell you what we're not doing." Alex said walking toward them.

"I asked Diana. Not you." Danny turned back to Diana. "Well?"

"Uh, well I…"

"How did he get here?" Sam interrupted?

"I flew." Alex answered.

"Flew?" Vlad asked as he walked in the room. "Diana, is this the ghost powered friend you've been telling me so much about?"

Diana stared at Vlad for a moment. She didn't remember ever mentioning Alex to him. If she or her parents never talked about Alex then how could he possibly know about his ghost powers?

"Um, yes. Mr. Masters this is Alex Blade. Alex. Vlad Masters." Diana replied.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Alex." Vlad said as shook his hand.

"The pleasure's all mine." Alex said making his smile as happy as he could manage.

"Will you be having breakfast with us?" Vlad asked him.

Just then Alex's stomach growled.

"I guess so." Alex answered.

"Excellent." Vlad left the room. Danny and Sam followed him with their hard eyes still glued to Alex.

Once the adults left Alex looked over at Diana.

"Do you think your parents will still let me stay at your house?" Alex asked her.

"After all that I doubt it. But just think, you'll be able to stay with Kelly."

"Oh joy." Alex said sarcastically. "Is it just me or is that Vlad guy really creepy?"

"It's not just you. He is creepy." Diana said as she picked out some clothes from her suitcase.

"How many more days do you have to stay here?"

"Four."

"Four more days of hell."

"Yup. I don't think I'll even survive that long."

Alex smiled. "We'll see about that."

Once Diana was dressed she and Alex ran down the stairs to the dinning room. Everyone was already sitting at the table waiting for them to arrive. Diana and Alex sat in the two empty chairs at the end of the table.

Julia glared at Alex. "What is _he_ doing here?" She asked Diana.

"He came by to check up on me last night." Diana answered.

"How touching." Julia said between clenched teeth.

Diana ignored her.

Vlad walked up to Diana's chair. Diana sensed his presence and looked up at him.

"Diana, how would you and your friend like to take a little ride on my yacht after breakfast?"

"You have a yacht?" Alex asked in amazement.

"Oh course. And I even paid to have a lake built in so I could drive it all year 'round."

Alex looked over at Diana. "I say let's do it!"

"I don't know Alex." Diana said hesitantly.

"But it's a yacht! Come on!" Alex begged.

Diana sighed. "Alright."

Alex pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! Boat's rock!"

After breakfast Diana and Alex boarded Vlad's yacht just as they said they would. They had been out on Vlad's private lake for a few hours now. Diana was sitting in a beach chair soaking up the sun while Alex was holding on tightly to the railing of the boat and leaned over the edge of the ship. His face was a light green.

"I hate boats." Alex yelled to Diana.

Diana laughed at his remark.

"What's so funny?" Alex snapped.

"You." Diana answered, still laughing.

He looked at her in annoyance. "Oh, so you find my sea sickness hilarious?"

"Yup."

Alex turned away muttering something. Diana couldn't hear what is was but she figured it had something to do with her being irritating.

Diana got up from the chair. "Well this is getting boring. I'm gonna look around the ship."

Alex looked at her. "Can we do that?"

"No one said that we couldn't. And besides, I don't even think there's anyone on board except us."

"Didn't Vlad follow us? Or a maid or somebody?"

"I don't think so. I guess Vlad thinks we're responsible enough."

Alex shook his head. "He obviously has never met me."

Diana sighed. "Just come on."

"There's only one problem."

"What's that?"

"I'm kinda permanently glued to this thing."

Diana giggled and ran up to him. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Alex answered still holding tightly to the railing.

"Well I think I can fix that."

"Do you have pliers?"

"Nope." Diana leaned closer to him until they were face to face. She pressed her lips against his and immediately Alex's heart raced and his arms and legs turned to jelly. Diana backed away and Alex fell face first onto the deck.

"Works every time." Diana said smiling and trying hard not to laugh.

Alex still looked a little dazed.

"You okay?" Diana asked him.

Alex nodded. "Except now I can't get up."

Diana smiled and grabbed his hand to help him up. Once Alex was on his feet Diana walked toward the door that led to the bottom part of the ship. She looked back at him.

"Are you coming?"

Alex shrugged and followed Diana.

As they walked through the door they came to a long corridor that connected to different hallways.

"Well now there's another problem." Alex said.

"What do you mean?"

"Now we're gonna need a map." Alex smiled.

Diana smiled back. "I'm sure we'll find our way. And maybe we'll find another living thing on this boat."

Diana and Alex walked down the hallway and examined the many paintings and plaques on the walls. They strolled down the hallways for ten minutes and still there wasn't a single sign of another human being anywhere. Not even a captain.

"Okay this is just weird." Alex said. "Shouldn't there at least be a janitor on this ship?"

Diana was about to answer when the ship shook and knocked the two teens off of their feet.

"What the hell was that?" Alex said as he tried to stand up.

"I think we're moving." Diana told him.

Alex looked at her with confusion. "Moving? But you said that there wasn't a driver on this thing."

"I said I didn't see one," Diana reminded him. "I didn't say there wasn't anyone on here."

"Well, whatever." Alex offered his hand to Diana and helped her stand up.

In an instant Alex became stiff and his eyes examined the empty corridor. His face looked as if he was trying to concentrate on locating an invisible object that only he could see. Diana shook his arm trying to get him out of his trance.

"Alex? What's wrong with you? Snap out of it!" Diana raised her hand to smack him back into reality when Alex caught her hand inches away from his cheek.

"Alex what are you-"

Alex put a finger over Diana's lips cutting her off mid sentence.

"Listen."

Diana stood still for a moment. She pushed Alex's hand away from her face. "Alex, I don't hear anything."

Alex sighed. "That's because you're talking. Now listen."

Diana froze and concentrated on the noise that she was supposed hear. Then she heard it. The noise sounded like a loud rushing sound. It seemed familiar but- like most things- Diana couldn't figure out were she had heard it before.

"You hear it?" Alex asked.

Diana nodded. "What is it?"

"It sounds like a river or something. Like rushing water."

"Water?" Diana shook head. "But that can't be it."

Diana looked up to see Alex staring down the hallway with wide eyes.

"I think it can."

Diana followed his gaze and watched in horror as dark, icy lake water speeded toward them. Alex ran down the hall trying to outrun the fast approaching wave. Diana didn't follow. Try as she might she couldn't move. Fear spread through her whole body and she couldn't shake it off. Her brain refused to think of anything except for how the cold water would feel as it smacked into her. Her entire body had gone numb. She couldn't tell that Alex had grabbed her hand until he pulled her along with him down the hallway.

"Diana what were you thinking?" Alex asked with panic still in his eyes. "You were just standing there like an idiot!"

Diana didn't answer. She followed Alex down every twist and turn and there was still no sign of an exit.

"There has to be a way out! There has to be!" Diana said-mostly to herself- as she sprinted down the long corridors behind Alex. "Where is the door to the deck?"

"I don't know," Alex answered. "And it won't do much good anyway."

"Really? Please explain." Diana said with a tone that was a mix of fear and confusion.

"There's water in the ship right? And ships sink when there's water in them. So this thing is going to sink whether we're on the deck or below it. There's not a lot we can do."

"Well we can't just keep running!" Diana thought for a moment. What could they do? Running was only a temporary option and the exit was nowhere in sight. They couldn't just walk through the walls and escape. That's when it hit her. "Well duh!"

Alex looked over at her. "What?"

"Just follow my lead, okay?"

The all too familiar glowing blue rings appeared around Diana's hips and separated leaving Diana in her ghostly form. Alex caught on and transformed as well.

"Now faze through that wall after me" Diana pointed to an upcoming part of the wall on their right side.

"Diana, what if-"

"Don't question it! Just do it!"

Alex sighed and followed Diana through the wall. In less than a second they were hovering in mid air and watching Vlad's yacht sink into the dark abyss that was his private lake. The front end of the yacht was being devoured by flames.

Diana watched with her eyes still wide in horror. Alex looked over at her and noticed her panic filled state. He took her hand in his to remind her that he was still here.

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

"What do mean? Are you hurt?"

"No."

Diana continued to watch the boat slowly sink under the blue water.

"Alex that could've been us. We could've been going done with it." Diana said without taking her eyes off the lake below. Alex took the hand that was holding Diana's and wrapped his arm around Diana's shoulders.

"But that's not us. We escaped. We're safe."

"Yeah, but for how long?"

Alex stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"The yacht is sinking _and_ it's on fire and we don't know why!"

"It could've been an accident." Alex suggested trying to keep Diana positive.

"But it wasn't an accident!" Diana yelled. "The ship just caught on fire and started sinking for no reason at all and we were the only people on the ship!"

Alex still looked confused "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that someone is trying to get us killed!"

"Oh yeah? And just who is this someone?"

Diana became silent. "Do I have to say his name? It's so obvious."

"Vlad?"

Diana nodded.

"But why would Vlad want to kill us?"

"Why wouldn't he? With us out of the way he could do anything he wants. And he could go along with that mystery plan of his." Diana fell silent again. She looked up at Alex. Her eyes were filled with terror.

"Alex, what if Vlad found out? What if the only way to get us off his back is to kill us?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Diana you're being a moron. He couldn't have found out."

"Yes he could," Diana protested. "He's smarter than we've been giving him credit for. He wants us dead I know it. And if his first attempt didn't work I know he's going to try again and next time we might not escape."

"Don't say that," Alex wrapped Diana in his arms. "We're going to get through this. And when it's over and done with he'll never bother you or your family again. I promise." He tightened his hold around Diana. "I won't let him hurt you."

Diana looked up at him and stared into his warm chocolate brown eyes. "But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"What if Vlad hurts you or what if he…" Diana couldn't finish her sentence.

"Kills me? So what? No one's gonna care. No one cares about me. I don't even care about me!"

"I do." Diana wrapped her arms around Alex in a hug. She had used every bit of strength to keep from crying but her eyes refused to listen. The tears fell and they kept falling. Alex's arms tightened around Diana once again.

"Alex I'm scared." Diana said in a soft voice.

Alex pressed his lips to Diana's ear. "Don't be," He whispered. "I won't let him anywhere near you."

Off in the distance a tall, dark figure stood on the roof of the mansion. Vlad Masters watched with mad eyes as the two ghost powered teenagers comforted each other as his yacht sank. He wasn't angry that the one hundred thousand dollars that he had spent on the yacht was now going down the drain; he could easily buy a new and better yacht. Vlad Masters was angry that his plan hadn't worked as he thought it would have. He had spent his own precious time bombing his own boat to sink it with the two teens that he wanted dead aboard it for what? To see them floating above the wreckage safe and sound like nothing had happened at all? Vlad wouldn't stand for it. They would pay, Vlad told himself, and they would pay dearly.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The rest of the day had dragged on slower than Diana had ever thought a day could drag on for. Dinner went slower than ever and to make it worse Vlad kept looking over at Diana and glaring at her with cold eyes. And even now at 2:00 in the morning those two hard, unforgiving eyes wouldn't leave her be.

Diana laid in her bed tossing and turning while Alex slept on the couch just as soundly as the night before. Diana had convinced her parents that it was too late to take Alex back to Amity Park now and that it would take too long to do it. And due to the shortage in guestrooms Alex was back sleeping on his temporary bed. Diana offered her bed to him but Alex refused it every time she had brought the subject up. It didn't seem like he minded sleeping on the small couch at all. He never complained about it.

Now Diana was in a cold sweat and moaning as she tossed and turned under the blankets. Those were the usual symptoms of her nightmares.

In her dream she was walking in a dark room. Everything was black and the room, or hallway, or whatever it was never seemed to end. She started running frantically forward trying to find another living soul that might be lingering close by. So far she wasn't having any good luck. It was just her there. Alone.

"Diana." A voice called from somewhere in the distance.

Diana jumped. She looked around to see who it was. There was no one there. She looked behind her. Still no one. Once she turned forward again there was a tall, dark figure standing there.

Diana wanted to scream but couldn't. Fear took over her. She studied the figure for a moment until she finally recognized it as the ghost that had flown into her parents' room and had done something to Danny. Something that she still didn't know about.

His dark red eyes stared right into her finding every bit of her terror amusing. He grinned.

"Diana," The ghost began. "I'm afraid that you made the wrong choice. I'm sorry that I have to do this to you but you're my enemy now. I'm going to have to kill you."

Oh, not this again, Diana thought. She tried to run but her legs wouldn't move. She looked up at the ghost with fear.

"You're mine Diana. No one can save you now. Not your mother, not your little boyfriend, and not even your father. He's under my control now."

Diana just stared at the dark figure standing in front of her. "Dad? What did you do to him?!"

An iron cage began to materialize on the ground next to the ghost. Once the bars of the cage had taken shape Diana made out a shape of a person trapped in it. He was staring at the floor of the cage looking broken and defeated. Then Diana realized who it was.

"Dad!" She tried running to Danny but still her legs were glued to the floor. "What have you done?"

The ghost just laughed in response.

Diana couldn't take it anymore. She fell to the floor. And buried her face in her knees. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away. Just then a soft voice whispered to her.

"Don't cry." It said to her. It wasn't the ghost's voice at all. It was a new voice. But Diana knew who it belonged to. There was nothing that could make her forget that voice. She looked up to see just who she thought it was. His red eyes were the only evil eyes that she ever found comfort in.

"You'll be okay. I'll help you." Alex said as he knelt down to face Diana.

"Alex…" Diana looked up at him with tears still pouring from her eyes.

"Yes?"

"Don't leave me. You have to help me save him."

Alex smiled. "I'm not going anywhere."

Diana stretched her arm out to him to touch his cheek. Once their skin touched Alex's face began to crumble, then his shoulders, then the rest of him.

Diana covered her mouth with her hands to keep from screaming. But that didn't do anything to stop her from waking up screaming at the top of her lungs.

Diana sat up in her bed and looked around the room to make sure everything was the way it was supposed to be. She sighed and looked over at Alex. He was awake. Diana couldn't see him well in the dark but she knew that he was looking at her.

"Diana, are you okay?" He asked her.

"I'm fine. Just a bad dream. That's all."

"I could tell from the screaming."

"Was I really that loud?" Diana asked.

"Uh huh." Was all Alex said.

Diana blushed. She was thankful that the darkness hid her red face from Alex's view. "Did I wake you?"

"No. I was already awake."

"Can't sleep again?"

"That's right."

"Maybe you should get some medication for that." Diana suggested.

"Nah."

Diana got up and walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked her as he rose from the couch.

"I need to check something," She said. "Don't follow me."

"Why not?"

"Because I told you to."

"I know what you're doing. You're going to check on your dad to see if your dream isn't going to come true."

Diana stopped and looked at him. "How do you know that?"

"You tend to talk in your sleep when you have nightmares like that."

"Really?" Diana asked. She was never aware that she ever talked in her sleep or screamed for that matter. "What all did I say?"

"Well, you said my name a lot." Alex said.

"Oh." Diana blushed again. "Is that all?"

"Well no. You first started saying that you needed to save your dad and then you kept telling me to help you."

Alex walked over to Diana and reached to grab her hand. Diana quickly pulled it back, afraid that Alex would disintegrate into nothing again. Alex hesitated for a moment then grabbed Diana's hand again. Diana was relieved to find that his hand was still in tact.

"I'm just going to check on him," Diana said. "I have to make sure nothing happened."

Alex stroked the back Diana's hand with his thumb. "It was just a dream Diana. Nothing's happened and nothing will happen."

"But it wasn't just a dream. I've had dreams like this before. Like this one time, it was a few days after I first met you and I didn't know about your powers yet. I had a dream that you wanted to talk to me at the park and I went to the park and you were there."

"Then what happened?"

Diana didn't want to remember the next part. "Then your eyes started glowing red and you were…attacking me. You weren't yourself. And then that next day you actually asked me to meet you in the park and that's when Dan came and…" Diana couldn't continue.

Alex squeezed Diana's hand. "And you think that since your last dream came true this one will too?"

Diana nodded. "It's not impossible."

"Yeah, but it is crazy." Alex smiled.

Diana pulled her hand out of Alex's grasp. "I have to make sure. You can never be too careful."

Alex sighed. "I'm gonna have to come with you though."

"No. I'm going alone."

"Why? Do you really hate me that much?"

"No! That's not it at all!"

"Then tell me why."

Diana fell silent. "This is my family, my problem. If something went wrong I don't want you to have to pay for it."

"What would go wrong?"

Diana couldn't answer. She didn't want to think about what could happen. "I just need to do this, okay?"

Alex sighed. He walked over to Diana's nightstand and picked up the cell phone that was sitting there. He came back to Diana and dropped the phone in the hand.

"Text me if something happens." Alex told her.

Diana smiled and nodded. She grabbed the brass doorknob, turned it, and opened the door. Before walking out of the room Diana looked back at Alex. She didn't know if she would see him again and she had to make this mental picture of his encouraging smile last.

Once she had enough mental images of him stored away in her memory Diana opened the door wider and left the room. She walked down the dark hallway and headed in the direction of her parents' bedroom. She stopped at the door and reached for the doorknob. A deep voice stopped her from turning the doorknob.

"What are you doing Diana?" It asked her.

Diana quickly turned around and saw that it was Vlad. He stood there waiting for her to answer. When she didn't he continued.

"You should be asleep at this time of night."

"I could say the same thing to you Mr. Masters." Diana said.

Vlad just glared at her. "Well I was suddenly awoken from some girly high pitched screaming. I came to see who it was."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore. That was me."

Vlad looked surprised. "Oh. I thought it might have been your grandpa Jack."

Diana clenched her teeth.

"So why were you screaming Diana? Nightmares?"

"Yeah. Nightmares."

"Oh, well I'm all ears if you want to talk about it."

Diana shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'm fine. Really."

"Well I wasn't sure since you were about to open your parents' door. What were you doing out here anyway?"

Diana hesitated. "Uh, nothing. I'm not doing anything."

Vlad glared at her again. "I beg to differ. What are you planning?"

"Planning? I-I'm not planning anything." Diana said staring at Vlad nervously.

Vlad's eyes narrowed. He wasn't playing around this time. "Don't play dumb with me Diana. I know what you've found out about me and my plans. Don't try to lie your way out of it."

Diana's eyes grew wide with fear. So he _had_ found out, Diana though. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." Diana started backing away but Vlad only took another step toward her.

"Diana please, I'm losing my patience with you. Just tell me what you know and I won't have to rip you to shreds."

"I don't know anything!" Diana took another step back.

"Lies!" Vlad raised his hand and shot a bright pink ecto-blast at her. Diana was knocked to the floor. The impact of her head and the floor knocked her unconscious. The last thing she remembered was Vlad's evil laugh. It echoed in her head until it eventually faded away.

When Diana opened her eyes she was tied to a chair with rope. Glowing rope. Rope doesn't usually glow, Diana thought to herself, it has to be ghost proof. Diana transformed and turned intangible but nothing happened. So her theory was confirmed. She looked around to see where she was. It was a large room with metal walls and tables with piles of papers and beakers. In the corner of the room was a glowing green ghost portal, like the one her family had.

Just then Vlad appeared out of nowhere and walked up to her.

"Now do you see what I have to do when people don't cooperate?" He asked her.

"Let me go Vlad!"

"No."

"Well that was quick and straight to the point."

Vlad smiled. "I know. I like to keep things simple nowadays."

"They weren't before?"

Vlad didn't answer.

"What do you want with me?" Diana asked tugging at the binds on her wrists.

"Well I want you to help me." Vlad answered.

"With what?"

"World domination of course." Suddenly a glowing black ring appeared around Vlad and separated into two leaving any traces of Vlad Masters behind. What remained was the ghost that Diana had seen at her house three nights ago. So this was Vlad Plasmius, she thought.

"You!" Diana yelled.

Vlad grinned. "Surprise!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

All the pieces were coming together now. Diana just stared at Vlad as he continued to grin.

"So it was you! You were that ghost that came into my house that night!" Diana yelled at him. Then she remembered something. "Wait a minute, Dad! What did you do to him?"

Vlad just smiled. "That's none of your concern Diana."

"Yes it is! Tell me what you've done with him!"

"If you really want to see him that bad." Vlad snapped his fingers. A figure appeared floated beside him. It was Danny. But it didn't look like him. His usual ghost green eyes were a bright glowing red and his cheerful smile was now a wicked grin.

Diana stared at him. "Dad?"

"Yes, it's him," Vlad answered. "It's not a clone or anything. It's the real Danny Phantom."

"No it's not! What did you do to him?"

"Nothing you should worry about. Honestly." Vlad said calmly.

"Just tell me what you've done you son of a-"

"Now there's no need for name calling Diana."

Diana gritted her teeth.

"It's obvious really," Vlad began. "I hypnotized him."

"What? But how? Why are you doing this?" Diana asked.

"One question at a time my dear." Vlad said playing with a strand of her hair. Diana turned her head to bite Vlad's fingers but he moved his hand out of the way just in time. Vlad glared at her.

"First of all," Vlad continued. "How I did it is none of your business. Secondly, why is none of your business either. But I'm willing to make a proposition with you so I'll tell you."

"I'm listening." Diana said bitterly.

"Well I'm on a quest for world domination."

"Figures."

"And I kindly asked your father if he would help me, but with your father being, well, your father he turned down my offer. But with me being me I couldn't take no for an answer."

"So you hypnotized him? How original. Not!" Diana said. "But Hadon said that you had some sort of army. It can't just be Dad then."

Vlad grinned. "And you said you didn't know anything."

"Well what do ya know! I lied!"

Vlad frowned.

"So this army?" Diana said to get the conversation back on track. She couldn't afford to lose Vlad's plans now.

"Yes, well since I'm hated by everyone on Earth human soldiers were defiantly out. But since I can hypnotize ghosts, as you can tell from my little meat puppet over here," Vlad motioned his hand toward Danny as he spoke. "The choice was rather easy."

"And you're only using adults, why?" Diana asked.

"You know how children are," Vlad answered. "They never listen to anyone."

"True." Diana glared at Vlad again. "And this proposition?"

"Ah yes, I want you to join me."

"And what makes you think I'm stupid enough to do that?"

"You really want me to answer that? I have a copy of your report card." Vlad smiled.

Diana's eyebrows narrowed. "You freaky stalker!"

Vlad chuckled as he walked up to Diana. They were now face to face. "So what do you say?"

Diana spit in Vlad's face and smiled as he wiped his face with his hand.

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Vlad said flatly.

"That's more like a 'never in your lifetime' you creep!" Diana yelled at him.

Vlad gritted his teeth and his nostrils flared. "I really didn't want to have to do this Diana but it seems that you've left me no choice."

Diana just looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"Soliders, assemble!" Vlad called out.

Just then hundreds of ghosts of all shapes and sizes appeared out of nowhere and stood behind Vlad with evil grins on their pale faces.

Diana just stared in horror. "Snap!" Was all she managed to say.

Vlad laughed. "Starting to rethink your decision?"

"A little." Diana's expression never changed.

"It's a little late for that now."

Diana scowled. "You'll never get away with this. My mom will find you. Nobody here trusts you. Once they realize I'm gone they'll come looking for me and they'll know just who to blame."

"I'm afraid that, once again, you're wrong," Vlad said smiling. "Everyone's asleep right now and before they wake up there won't be any evidence to prove anything. You're dead body will be taken care of properly."

"You're a psycho!" Diana yelled with disgust in her voice. "Go to a psycho ward!"

"I get that a lot."

"I'm not surprised. But you forgot one thing Vlad. I still have the power of mobile phone text messaging on my side!" Diana looked behind her to get a look at the cell phone that she was holding. But there wasn't anything in her bind hands.

"Looking for this?" Vlad asked holding up her cell phone. Diana just stared at the phone in his hand.

"Diana, I'm not as dumb as you think I am." Vlad said as he threw the phone on the floor, breaking it in half.

"Hey! I still had payments on that!" Diana yelled.

"Now no one can save you." Vlad grinned. His red eyes grew darker and his hands glowed brightly. "Any last words, my dear?"

Diana hung her head. "Just get this over with." She said almost in a whisper.

"That's my girl." Vlad pointed his glowing pink hand at Diana. He was about to blast her to oblivion until the wall was blown apart. Diana turned her head to see what was happening. Her face immediately brightened up. Standing there amongst the debris was her own little army and their leader, Alex Blade. Alex's eyes were glowing a fierce red and his hands were balled into fists. He looked as if he was ready to kill someone and, strangely, it made Diana feel peaceful.

"Vlad!" Alex yelled. "Let her go Vlad!"

"What makes you think I have any desire to listen to you?" Vlad snarled.

Alex's fists glowed a bright red. "Let her go or I'll punch your face in!"

"Oh I'm so scared!" Vlad said sarcastically.

This made Alex angrier.

Diana's eyes brightened as she watched Alex. "Alex! I can't believe it! How did you know I was here?"

Alex looked over at her and smiled a little half smile. "Instinct."

"Have I ever told you how much I love your instinct?" Diana asked him.

"No you haven't, but you can tell me later." Alex looked over at Vlad. "Can I just kill him now?" Alex asked, still talking to Diana.

"Sure! Be my guest!" Diana answered.

Vlad gritted his teeth. "Fine. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" He turned to the mass of ghosts behind him. "Attack!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Alex watched as the mass of ghosts charged towards him and his, compared to Vlad's, pathetic army. Alex wasn't scared. He tensed up and stood his ground. He looked behind him expecting his "army" to be following his example. To his disappointment they were doing anything but. They all stood there motionless filled with confusion, and for some of them fear. This annoyed Alex.

"Well come on!" Alex called to them. "What are you waiting for? Go fight them!"

None of them moved. Glares from Terra and Anthony were all the responses he received.

Alex looked back at the fast moving group of phantoms. Then back at the group behind him.

"Come on! They're right in front of us! Do you want to die?"

"Technically I'm already dead." Spencer replied.

Alex glared at him. "Do you want to die again?"

Spencer didn't answer.

Alex looked over at Diana in hope for some sort of support. Diana stared at them for a moment then sighed. "You heard him! Go!"

"We can't fight our parents!" Cat protested.

"Why the hell not?" Alex asked with impatience.

Diana sighed. "It's their parents Alex! They can't hurt them!"

"That shouldn't make a difference. If it were my parents charging at me I'd fight my way threw!" He replied.

"It's different for them. They would actually die than hurt them!"

"But they're all against them! Even your dad!"

"They have no choice! Vlad's controlling them!" Diana yelled at him.

"Alright! Fine!" A voice from the small group replied. It was Hadon. "We'll fight okay! Just shut up!"

Hadon charged at the oncoming crowd and the others hesitantly followed. Hadon transformed into a dragon and started firing balls of flame in every direction while Terra blasted power chords from her guitar. The others that weren't as talented kicked, punched, and dodged for their lives trying to inflict as little pain as possible when they were up against their parent. Julia and Zachary fired ecto-blasts from ghost hunter guns that Diana had snuck from the ghost equipped RV.

As the battle continued Alex quickly untied Diana from the chair she was fixed to. The ropes fell to the ground and Alex spun Diana around and embraced her.

"Are you okay?" He asked stroking her cheek with his hand. "Did he hurt you?"

"No I'm fine." Diana said gazing into his eyes. She felt so much safer now in his arms. "Come on," Diana grabbed Alex's hand. "We have to help them."

Alex nodded. They ran toward the mass of ghosts and started attacking. Firing blasts here, dodging them there. This went on for a while. Vlad's army was too strong. They couldn't take them on for much longer. Whether it was because Vlad's army was older and had more experience Diana wasn't sure.

Then out of the blue a bright pink ecto-blast hurdled toward Diana. She jumped out of the way just in time. She looked around and saw that it was Vlad who had shot at her. He was smiling that evil smile of his. Diana glared at him and began to run at him. Something caught her shoulder preventing her from going any further. She looked over her shoulder. It was Alex.

"He's mine." He said to her. Alex darted at Vlad at full speed and began blasting away. Vlad dodged every single one. Alex flew at Vlad planning to kick him right in the jaw but Vlad saw it coming. He grabbed Alex's ankle and threw him at the wall. Alex was out cold.

Diana's eyes widened. "Alex! No!" She jumped at Vlad but something knocked her out of the way. The next thing her knew she was up against a wall staring into bright red eyes.

"Dad!" Diana said to him. "It's me, Diana! You have to listen to me!"

Danny paid no attention. He raised his arm and swung his fist at Diana. Diana moved her head, Danny's fist missing her face by only a few inches.

"Dad, please!" Diana began to beg. "You're under Vlad's control! This isn't you! You have to fight it!"

Danny just smiled a wicked smile. His hand glowed as he powered up an ecto-blast.

So this is it. Diana thought. Out of all the ways to die I end up getting killed by my own father. She shut her eyes tight and prepared for the worst. Then there was a scream. But it wasn't her own. She opened her eyes. Danny was on the ground slowly returning to his feet. He looked up and scowled. Diana followed his gaze and smiled with delight.

"Aunt Danielle," Diana yelled to her. "How'd you get here?"

Danielle floated in the air and smiled at her pretend niece. "I knew something was wrong. Ever since Danny invited me to come along with you guys."

Vlad grinned. "Aw, Danielle. How nice of you to join us." He fired at her. Danielle flew away just in time to watch the ceiling come down right were she was levitating. Vlad scowled. He looked at Danny and snapped his fingers.

"Get her."

Danny obeyed. He chased after Danielle and fired away. Vlad glared at Diana and began walking toward her.

"You thought you could ruin my plans that easily? You were wrong." His face was horrifying, his cold eyes piercing into her. It made Diana shiver.

"You'll pay deeply." He growled.

Diana tensed up, preparing herself for whatever Vlad had planned to do to her.

But before either of them could do anything they heard a loud noise, almost like the sound of a vacuum cleaner. Vlad's eyes grew wide with fear. In seconds he was gone and inside the Fenton Thermos that Sam was holding. She screwed the cap back on and smiled at her daughter.

"Mom!" Diana ran up to her and hugged her mother.

"Oh sweetie, are you okay?" Sam asked her.

"Fine. Where's Dad?"

Sam and Diana looked around the room. The fighting had stopped. Vlad's former army all looked at each in confusion all wondering the same question. Who did I get here? Cat saw Freakshow and Lydia wandering around trying to remember what just happened. She ran up to them and hugged them. They were even more surprised to see her here. The rest of the adolescent ghosts followed Cat's example and found their parents. Diana figured that they'd fill them in on what happened.

Danielle led a very confused Danny over to his family. His blood red eyes had returned to their normal bright green color.

"What happened here?" He asked Diana and Sam.

"Vlad." They answered in unison.

Danny nodded in understanding. Only that one word was needed.

Julia and Zachary ran up to them.

"Is it over?" Zachary asked Diana.

"Yeah. Everything's fine now." She smiled.

Zachary smiled back and ran over to Spencer. To say his good-byes, Diana thought.

All the ghosts were filing out of the room threw the ghost portal. Back to where they belonged. Zachary and Spencer waved to each other as he, Anthony, and the rest of them disappeared into the ghost zone. The room was now empty which allowed Diana to see the boy smashed into the wall of the room.

"Alex!" She ran over and knelt down beside him. She moved strands of black hair out of his face. "Wake up Alex! Don't do this to me!" She gently shook him but it did nothing. Diana gritted her teeth in an attempt to hold back tears. She couldn't take this anymore. "Alex! Don't do this to me again! Not again! Not again…" Her voice cracked. Hot tears fell down her face. She raised her hand to slap his face but stopped. Alex's hand caught her wrist.

"Please don't slap me." He said, his eyes still closed. Diana's face brightened as she hugged him.

"Don't scare me like that!" She said as she kissed his lips. Alex smiled and kissed her back, holding her close to him.

"You're such an idiot," Diana said. "You almost got yourself killed."

Alex smiled. "Yeah, yeah." He kissed her again.

Once he pulled away he asked, "So is it over?"

Diana nodded. "We won."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Hey Diana! How was your break?" Whittany asked as they walked into the school building.

"Fine." Diana lied. It was best that her friends didn't know about the incident at Vlad's.

The morning after the battle, the Fenton's had packed up and left. There was no need to stay there any longer. Once the RV was packed and everyone was in their seats Diana thought of something.

"Hey Dad," She'd said. "What are we going to do with Vlad?"

Danny smiled. "The Thermos should be a nice new, permanent, home for him don't you think?"

Diana smiled and nodded. She walked over to her seat but tripped. She winced as she stood up. That's gonna leave a bruise, she thought. She looked down to see what it was that made her stumble. Her eyes grew wide. It was the Fenton Thermos, with the cap lying right beside it.

Danny looked back to see what was going on. "Diana? You okay?"

She picked up the Thermos and the cap and showed them to Danny. "Dad, the Thermos is open! Vlad escaped!"

Danny's face willed with horror. He came over to Diana and examined the Fenton Thermos.

Danny sighed. "He did escape."

"What do we do?"

Danny stared at the Thermos for a moment. "Nothing," He said. "There's nothing we can do now. If he ever comes back we'll be ready."

If he ever comes back. Diana hoped that that day would never come. But now she had other things to keep her mind off of Vlad. School was back in session, which would mean work and lots of it. And to top that all off there was still that constant ghost threat that needed taken care of. Yup, everything was back to normal.

Diana looked over at Whittany and Kelly. "So how was your vacation?"

"Boring." Whittany answered.

"Horrible." Kelly replied. "The family came over for Thanksgiving dinner and I had to watch the brats." She was referring to her younger cousins. They were a handful. Diana knew that from personal experience.

"What are you talking about Kels? You did nothing the whole time!" Michael came up behind them.

"Hey, I fed them!"

"Yeah, once. And you fed them popcorn that you were gonna eat until you found out that it was stale!"

Kelly shrugged. "Well I wasn't gonna eat it! And those brats will eat anything."

Michael sighed.

Diana smiled. Yes, everything was exactly how it was supposed to be. Or was she thinking too soon?

Alex ran up to Diana with a shocked expression on his face.

"Diana, you'll never believe this!" Alex said.

Diana just stared at him. "What's wrong?"

"This is insane! Look who I ran into in the hall!" Alex pointed to the two figures approaching them. Just then Diana's ghost sense went off. She looked down the hallway and found the cause of it. Diana stared at them with her mouth wide open.

"No way!" Diana ran up to them. "What are you guys doing here? I demand to know!"

"Calm down Diana, it's cool. We're new students here." Anthony said.

Diana couldn't believe it, Terra and Anthony going to their school? Impossible. Their parents would have never approved of this. Yet here they were. Besides from Terra's change of clothes, they looked exactly the same as they had during the battle with Vlad.

"But why are you here?" Diana asked.

"New experiences," Terra answered. "Home was getting too boring."

"And guess what. I'm the new student counselor!" Anthony said with delight.

Terra pumped her fist in the air with barely any effort. "Woo." She said with very little enthusiasm.

"But you-" Diana paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase "You're ghosts. This is the human world. Get out of here" without getting her friends involved in the conversation. But it was too late for that.

"Hey, who are these two Diana?" Whittany asked. "Do you know them?"

"Uh," Diana searched for the right words. "Yeah. They're…uh…family friends."

"Cool." Michael said.

Diana sighed. Yes, they bought it.

Kelly walked over to Terra and studied her intently. "Ew," She finally said after a few seconds of examining Terra's unusual punk attire. "Who dressed you, a freak circus? And what's with the make up?"

Terra scowled. "I dare you to say that again." She lunged toward Kelly but Anthony caught her arm. She glared at him then stepped back. She continued to glower at Kelly.

Diana looked at Anthony. "So what class do you guys have next?" she asked to get the conversation moving along.

"Biology in room C126." Anthony answered.

"I know where that is," Michael said. "I'll show you guys the way."

Anthony smiled and nodded. Anthony motioned for Terra to come with him then the two ghosts followed Michael down the hall.

"Well we should get to class too." Whittany said. She always had to be on time for every class.

Kelly and Alex followed her to their first class. Diana didn't follow. She was staring out the window, lost in thought. Alex turned around and noticed Diana just lingering behind.

"Diana, you coming?" He asked her.

Diana looked at him. "Yeah. I'll be right there."

She turned back to the window. He could be anywhere, she thought. Vlad's certainly out there. But where? And will he ever plan on returning? Returning for me?


End file.
